Elder Sandía; Mentes y Corazones Preparadas; e Quasi Pelé

¡Hola gente!

Another stellar week as we are currently striving (and succeeding) in finding new people and helping those we have to progress. One example is Esteban, a friend of a current investigator named Edwin who is friends with a member family. The two are super sharp and accepted to be baptized! (We are working on parental permission before we set the date) And Esteban, despite the rain on Sunday, came to church! We're trying to help everyone else come out to church so that they can get baptized too; a few baptismal dates fell through this week.

Remember Santiago? He is super hungry for knowledge, that's for sure. We had read 3 Nephi 11 with him and invited him to be baptized - he said he needs to think and pray about it - and then he asked about Adam and Eve, and he asked such questions as, "How did God become God?" Like, wow! Such deep questions for an investigator! He surely shows a ton of promise and we invited him to pray last night to know if these things are true. We also have a ward fellowshipping activity tomorrow for Labor Day, and we have invited a few investigators to attend. It's gonna be awesome!

My new companion is Elder Chandía. He is such a stud and wants to work hard and improve in everything. Haha, the people here quite often confuse his last name with "Sandía" (watermelon). Haha, it's pretty funny.

We also started teaching Margarita, who lives in the 18 de Mayo ward but attends Las Piedras because of her friend Teresita who is the Gospel Essentials teacher. She is absolutely amazing and has more understanding and knowledge than many members. And she asked us how she could be saved because, in her words, "Me quiero salvar." (I want to be saved.) Thus, we set a baptismal date for the 26th of March. We are going to work with the 18 de Mayo Elders to help her know at least who her ward missionaries and bishop are, and we're excited to see how it all turns out.

Exciting news: Elder Holland is going to visit our mission this transfer! I had been hoping for that for a long time, and I am soo excited to hear the words of an apostle of the Lord.

Today we played fútbol in our zone activity, and I almost pulled a bicycle kick goal! It would have been like Pelé from Brasil! Oh well. I also did score a "taco" goal (kick it backwards like a donkey.)

Hope y'all have a great week! I'm so grateful for all your prayers and support in my behalf. It truly makes a difference, so keep it up! :) ¡Les quiero!

Élder Newman

Opa, looking good with the sheetrock put up! Great view as well from the back deck!

Thanks for the card and for all you do siempre para mí. Love you Mom.

Hey Bear! Looks like you'll start off the reports with a bang! My pleasure, happy that what I sent you helped. Make sure to send me a pic afterwards! Love you tons!

Callie! Remind me and we will definitely watch Annie together after the mish! AH, good ol' Cookie Sunday! Love you soo much! Remember to always Choose the Right!

Emmrist! Congrats on the Spirit Bowl victory! Well deserved! Haha nice with the "run-in" with the cops!  Excited to see Infinity War! ¡Te amo mucho!

Mom’s Questions:

1. What is the funniest experience you had this week? 

Elder Chandía in general. The kid's a crackup!

2. Are there any people in your ward that you are really connecting with? 

Definitely the quorum president and the ward secretary. Both really young and super capo.

3. Who is your new companion? How long has he been in the mission? Where is he from? 

Elder Chandía is from Santiago Chile, the capital. He's got 9 months in the mission (same time as Elder Rodríguez).

4. What is something interesting you have learned about your new companion this week? 

He is an absolute Coca Cola addict. Like, seriously. It's bad. xD He's also a champ at fútbol!

5. How is Santiago doing this week?

Doing good! He said he's going to come to the ward activity tomorrow, and we have super high hopes for him.

Members are Awesome; ¡Viva Chile!; e O Que São os Setenta?

Hey gang! So transfers are in, and I will be staying in Las Piedras! Most likely, I will end my mission here, and I couldn't be much happier, for the work here is really cooking along!

An absolutely fantastic week as we have been trying to get more involved with the members, and it has paid off! We've done service pruning a tree for one sister - boy, THAT was fun - and we have received many referrals from the members that we are trying to catch up on contacting! One was from a 16 year old young woman who brought her friend Santiago to her house to listen to us. He is an English fanatic with a REALLY good accent, and he asked her out of nowhere if she was a Mormon and what our church was all about! So she set up the charla, and we came and taught Lesson 1 (Restoration), and he was HOOKED! He was asking how apostles become prophets and who seventies were and it was super awesome! We are going to commit him this week to be baptized for sure! And there are many others who are grandchildren or close neighbors of certain members, that the members are going to help us start teaching. The field is white for sure!

Yesterday we had a multi-district meeting in the which we heard the valientes' final testimonies and prepared them pizza and cinnamon cake! Super fun for sure! I had the opportunity to conduct a few baptismal interviews, and one was with the most intelligent 9-year-old I think I may have ever met! She certainly surprised me!  And she was VERY prepared for baptism.

I hope you guys have a great week! I'll be telling you more about my new comp next week! ¡Les quiero a todos!

Con mucho amor,
Élder Newman :)

Mom, quick question: I have heard that North Korea and Russia declared war on the USA. Is that true?
Haha but what a crazy dream! Let's hope I don't get shin splints or any health problem for sure! Haha, I'm pretty sure many people will be shocked about me going to BYU. Love you tons!

Bear! Some fun facts about Uruguay:

• Some of their main foods are: fideos con tuco (noodles and meat sauce); milanesa (a big chicken patty, or they sometimes use beef under the crust); mate (a powdered herb that you drink with hot water); asado (a huge barbeque cooked over firewood coals and with different parts of the cow and pig); alfajors (you already know), etc.
• It is even smaller than Utah and has a smaller population with under 3 million people (Utah has 3.1 million). And around 2 million of those inhabitants are located in the city and department of Montevideo, the capital.

Glad to hear that you got cleared to play! Haha sometimes you have those rough games, but you'll bounce back. Good luck at the State Cup!  Love you!

Callie! How fun that you got to have lunch all week with Mom! And I am super excited to baptize you for sure! And see your tablet games. Shae is super awesome, isn't she? Lizards, huh? Reminds me of when I held a huge boa constrictor (giant snake) on my shoulders. Really fun! Love you, Callie!

Emma, glad you had fun at Prom-dances are memorable experiences. Glad you were able to mosh nonetheless. And congrats on DanceCo! Hope you have a fantastic week! ¡Te amo!

15 years straight of the Salt Lake Marathon. Quite the impressive feat! Congrats, Pops.  Lots of love.

Mom’s Questions:
1. What have you heard about transfers? Are you staying or going? Keeping the same companion or getting a new one? 

Staying, and receiving another Chilean from Elder Rodriguez's group! His name is Elder Chandía. Elder Rodríguez is going to one of my old areas, El Pinar!

2. How did you serve your companion, district or ward members this week? 

We pruned a tree for Hermana Gomez, made cake and pizza for the valientes in our district and another one, and other small stuff in between.

3. Did you get your new debit card yet?? 

It has arrived in the mission, but they haven't gotten it to me yet; as a matter of fact, I think they lost track of it. We'll see what happens.

4. We had empanadas again this week. What was your favorite thing you ate this week? 

Perhaps napolitan milanesas yesterday. A giant chicken patty covered in mozzarella cheese and ham. Mmmm!

Perseverance is Key; ¡Que Buena la Feria!; e As Aguas do Batismo

Hi peoples! 

Another fantastic week! Up until Thursday it had been "dog-hot" (as Elder Rodriguez put it in Spanish), but Thursday it cooled down, and it's been pretty cool since. Truly nice that things have cooled down here as well; the first few days were killing me from heat.


Fun P Day today as we played soccer with the zone leaders and other elders from Obelisco, their investigator who's getting baptized this week, his friend, and the zone leaders from Norte, one of which is my good buddy Elder Belnap! Lots of fun! We're gonna go get pizza for lunch afterwards.

Giuliana was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Super amazing to see her get to this point after all the doubts she had to conquer. We are going to celebrate tonight by bringing her and Agustín pizza and teaching about Family History! One of our investigators who is in the run for getting baptized himself, Javier, also came to church and saw the confirmation!

We also learned about the importance of perseverance. Especially Friday; we had received some pretty brutal rejections, and I even had to cut a contact short due to the blasphemous stuff one guy was saying. Not gonna lie, I was pretty upset; it doesn't bother me much when people challenge or insult me, but when people start talking bad about Christ and God and basically spit upon what They did and do for us, it's not something that sits very well with me. But we kept plugging at it and were able to find some people with whom we've set a charla this Tuesday. We are continually trying to look for more people to teach and help, and are praying that our labors can bring forth even more fruit.

Side note about Uruguay: like I've said before, Uruguay as a country is really expensive because of the many taxes there are. Especially the supermarkets. So we have resorted to the "feria" (street market) by our apartment that they have on Thursdays, and besides being able to DRASTICALLY cut prices on fruit and eggs, I was able to find a pair of sunglasses and a fishing pole under 6 US dollars, and two Uruguayan sports jerseys under 30 dollars! What a steal!


Coming up on Changes Week once again! For that reason, my P Day next week will be Tuesday, so heads up y'all!

Well, I'm out of time, folks. Hope you all have another great week! Spread the Savior's love and light with at least one person this week, but with all your heart, and I promise that you will feel true joy.

¡Mucho amor para todos! (Much love to all!)
Élder Newman :)


Mom, crazy to see the family room like that! Are they going to replace the entire ceiling? Alma 22 is one of my favorite chapters for those exact same reasons. A member in our ward has a US quarter collection and is trying to complete it. Could you see if you or anyone you know has one of these quarters?: 2009 Guam, 2009 Virgin Islands, 2009 Mariana.
Thanks! Love you, Mom!

Wow, Callie! What a surprise with the playset! No worries, someday you might be the spotlight in Primary; just remember to set a Christ-like example. That will be the best spotlight ever! Callie, I would be honored to baptize you when I get home and you turn 8. Done deal! Love you tons!

Good luck with the dentist, Bear! Haha I know what restriction feels like; the collarbone experience was not fun. If you have any questions about Uruguay - it's for a presentation, right? - I'll be happy to help! Love you Bear!

Haha no sleep! Crazy that I'll be home to watch your senior year performances! And look at that with the filming! ¡Mucho amor para vos, Emma! (A lot of love for you, Emma!)

Blue cheese burgers! Guess who recently got hooked on blue cheese?  Yup, yours truly. Holy cow, Nick's already back! Crazy how the time flies! Tell that kid hi for me! Love you Pap!

Mom’s Questions:

1. How was the baptism? 

Absolutely awesome. Such a sweet spirit felt, and there was a lot of members there to support Giuli.

2. What was your most spiritual moment this week?

Either the baptism, or some recent charlas we've had with Javier about repentance and Christ's mercy. :)

3. What was the funniest thing that happened this week? 

We knocked yesterday on a member's house to visit - he recently passed his year mark as a member - and he peeked through the window and then let out a girl-like yelp. And he's a pretty big dude. Then he let us in.

4. How is the weather? Is it rainier than last year so far? 

It's finally cooling down, but it's been WAY drier than last year.

5. How did your hymns go in district meeting? Which two did you play? 

Pretty good! I played Redeemer of Israel in the key of C with just melody on the right hand and simple fifth-and-octave chords on the left hand, and Come, Follow Me as it reads in the hymnbook. Got that last one down pretty solid. :)

I Love to See The Temple; Vueltas en la Pansa; e Serviço é Muito Bom

¡Hola queridos! Another long, tiring, satisfying week in the Lord's service. Continuing to see the Gospel change people's lives, and it's so wonderful to see.

We went to the temple this past week as a zone, and it was such a sweet experience. There is an incomparable spirit there that you just cannot afford to miss out on.  Other highlights were: seeing Sister Eddy after three weeks and enjoying her brownie cookies. Yummm!!  Also had interviews this week with President Eddy! Man, I sure do miss being close to the Eddy family constantly!

Giuliana is all set for her baptism this Saturday, and Agustín passed his interview for the Aaronic Priesthood. Lucas continues to progress well, but the date has fallen for now because his non-member mother wants to see him deeply convicted in following this path so that he doesn't fall away afterwards. We're gonna keep working with him, and especially the father, who after a while, has finally expressed his desire to return to activity in the church. And Javier, the baptized but unconfirmed guy we found, is currently striving to gain a testimony of the Book of Mormon. Definitely no lack of desire, though!

Also had the opportunity to do some service this Saturday; we painted the entire outside of an investigator's house yellow in 2.5 hours! Cookin' along!

Did happen to get sick over the weekend. Not sure if it was something I ate, but Friday afternoon my stomach started churning, and we got home just in time, if you know what I mean. All the rest of that day and many times throughout the night, I spent in the bathroom. Yeah, not super fun. But oh well!

¡Les quiero a todos! ¡Que tengan una semana maravillosa! (I love you all! Have a wonderful week!)

Con amor,
Élder Newman :)

Hey Mom! Glad you are able to serve as a Primary pianist! I have to play 2 hymns tomorrow for the district meeting, and our zone leaders will be attending! That should be fun... Wow, quite the home adventures. I don't think I would've done well with the sight of Sarah’s teeth hanging out and blood either, so you're not alone there. And super cool for Mitch! Send him my love and support! Love you Mom!

Callerist! Yes, I was able to have a zone activity today and play some games and eat some pizza with the other missionaries in the zone! Super fun!

Shoot, Bear! I am so sorry to hear about the mishap on the tramp! We all have crazy moments like that. Hope your recovery goes smoothly! Lots of love and prayers your way!

Yes Emma, ñokis are sooo good! Haha, yearbook week seems a little bit like changes week for us. NO REST. Hopefully you'll be able to catch some sleep this next week! Love you!

Dad, that meme is absolutely fantastic and quite true. President Nelson came in with power! We actually have a meeting in the afternoon this coming Sunday at the stake center where all the new quorum presidencies are going to be sustained. I'm super excited. Love you Pap.

Mom’s Questions:

1. How did Guiliana, Shakira, Javier and Lucas progress this week? 

Giuliana fantastic. She's all set to go for this Saturday. Shakira randomly disappeared to Colonia and will be gone until next week (her father told us that). Lucas is doing well but might take a little longer to get to the water. Javier is doing well, just needs to get his answer on the BoM and attend church.

2. How was the temple last Tuesday? Did you go as a district or zone? 

Stellar. :) We went as an entire zone.

3. Is the weather starting to cool off now? 

Mostly yes, there were some cloudy and rainy days. Today's still pretty hot though.

4. What is your favorite thing about Las Piedras? 

Probably the 3x1 pizza or the huge Las Piedras Shopping center.

Putting off the Natural Man; La Voz del Profeta; e Pequenos Milagres Cada Dia

 District Picture

Lunch between conference sessions Saturday

¡Hola gente! (Hello people!) Definitely a roller coaster week! We have seen some great miracles, like Giuliana accepting to be baptized 14/4/18 and Lucas, the son of a less active dad, agreeing to be baptized the 21/4/18, and we've also had some long days with rejections and returned Books of Mormon. But how would we experience joy without some sorrow every once in a while?

Conference was so amazing for me, incredible to see the vision that the Lord has for His Church by announcing those grand changes in Conference through His prophet, Russell M. Nelson. I felt very strong confirmations throughout the whole conference that he is truly God's prophet and has been prepared for this divine calling. And it seemed like the talks and music this year were better than they've ever been.

Yesterday we had a especially great day. We were able to find a reference that we're gonna pass to Progreso and we had two news! The first was Shakira (no, not that one), a young single mother that we found in the street with her son Isaías; we talked about the purpose of this life and families. Then we found an investigator named Javier that got baptized but not confirmed a year ago. He accepted a baptismal date for the 28/4/18 and is animated to try again in changing his life! After a week of not being able to find many, yesterday was an exciting start to the week!

Short on time because we're going to the temple today, but I love you all and hope that we can apply fully the revelation that we have received in Conference. ¡Les quiero!

Con amor,
Élder Newman :)

Wow, no kidding, President Nelson is so prepared for his role! That's so cool for the ward, a grand homecoming with all those missionaries! Super cool as well that I'll have a cousin at the Y! Love you Mom!

Emma! Way to go on your chemistry test! And Avatar! Man, they chose well.  ¡Te amo, hermanita! (I love you sister!)

Bear, I have memories of wrestling Dad, and it did not go well for me either! Then, when I actually learned to wrestle, he backed out.  Have fun at the rec! Love ya!

Callerist! That is quite the Easter loot there! Yay for school breaks!  I can't choose a favorite talk right now; remember to ask me next week! I love you!

Pap, I have tried to be bolder, following that conference and the prophet's boldness, and I believe that yesterday was a great reward for trying to do so. Happy birthday by the way! I've honestly lost track of how old you are going to be. 45? Love you Pops!


Mom’s Questions:

1. In your last area, you mentioned Southamerica Area Plan Card. Can you explain what this is?

It is a card with 3 blessings on the front - Enjoying the Blessings of the TEMPLE, Living and Sharing the GOSPEL, and finding delight in the SABBATH; on the back, there is space to write goals for each blessing. We are inviting members to write those goals, and we plan on passing by to follow up.

2. How many investigators do you have right now? 

12 right now.

3. Where did you watch conference? What was your favorite part? 

In the stake center, and I can't really choose a favorite; it was all so good! I did enjoy the meals we had in Las Piedras Shopping mall in between sessions!

4. Did you do anything special for Easter (besides conference)?

Nothing in particular.